The Enigmatic End
by Sora Keyes
Summary: An island passed the Tedious Tribune holds the secrets of the Baudelaires' past. Do you dare delve into the mystery that is VFD, and the Tree of Morale Uncertainty?
1. Chapter 1

To Beatrice

IAll good things must come to an end.

You were no exception./I

Chapter 1

**_M_**any artists, playwrights, or café owners say that when they come to the end of their work, everything they have written finally seems connected.

An artist who has painted thousands of different paintings during his lifetime may finish his last work of art, look back at all he has done, and realize that it's all just different views of the same apple on a coffee table. A playwright might write the last line of his last play, and realize that every play he has written has been really about him and his relationship with his cat. A café owner may finally close up his shop for the last time, and realize that the man who came into his café every day for twelve years and asked to use his back room for a few hours was really holding secret meetings for an organization divided because of a simple four letter word.

All these men may come too the end of their life's work and see the hundreds of little threads that have connected everything they have ever drawn, directed, or served.

A writer however, always knows the connections between his stories, because he puts them there for reasons. Some authors want their readers to understand the deeper meaning in a story, so they drop subtle hints of the underlying morality of the story on random pages. Other authors want to show the reader a ripple effect of things in his novels, how one small thing at the start influences something enormous at the end. And then there are some authors who write their novels with so many tiny thread like connections, that some just end up floating into oblivion; a word which here means 'an abyss of mystery and unanswered questions'. A reader may think they know exactly what is happening to a character from the very start, but during the book the author may weave other elements into the story, such as a suspicious looking ferret, an ugly pair of blue curtains, or a woman so beautiful whom more than one man lusted after, and change the path of the character completely. Even in the final chapter of the story, the writer could throw in a huge surprise for the audience that seemed totally unexpected, but really had been hinted at since the first mentioning of the word 'cheese fondue'.

The Baudelaire's knew a lot about subtle connections, for their lives were filled with thousands of them. As each of the three children wandered across the sturdy ship they were sailing in with Count Olaf, each thought about those connections, and how even after all this time, they hadn't found the roots for any of them.

Violet, the eldest Baudelaire, was sitting on the deck of the ship, a word which here means 'the cold and wet floor', and gazing out at the city they was drifting by. The city she had been born in, the city she thought she knew. How many more mysteries were hidden in its buildings? she thought. Justice Strauss, their neighbor when they first were living with Count Olaf, had entered and left their life so suddenly, that they thought they'd never see her again. Yet, just a few hours ago they had fled from her, after she tried to stop them from leaving with Olaf. The same had happened with Jerome Squalor, another guardian, who had just walked out on them, had returned all of a sudden, with the news he had been following them since they had left 667 Dark Avenue. Why had they followed them? She thought, and how did they find them again? Were they volunteers? Did she really know them at all?

Klaus the middle child, stared gloomily from the stern, a word which here means 'the front of the ship', at the sea all around them. He thought of the connections that had come from under it, in and out of the submarine IQueequeg/I. They had finally learned of the sugar bowl, or Vessel For Disscharades, but they had yet to learn of it's purpose, or why Olaf and VFD so avidly wanted to keep it safe. The connections all there, but each led to nowhere and just more mystery.

Sunny, the youngest Baudelaire, was most confused and saddened of all the Baudelaires, mainly because while she had grown and matured substantially over the last few months, she was still just 2 years of age, and couldn't quite understand every connection or their meaning. The other reason was the building behind her, the one slowly disappearing in a haze of smoke. This building, the Hotel Denouement, was surely the largest bundle of new connections they had found, and yet they hadn't spent anywhere near enough time to comprehend any of them. They would never be able to at all now, for the building was ablaze with fire, and crumbling down. Sunny thought of how she had started that fire, so they could send a signal to Kit Snicket and their friends the Quagmires not to come. It had seemed the noble thing to do, but now she thought of all the people still stuck inside, and shuddered.

"Quit staring at nothing Baudelaire's. Help me with this spatula."

The Baudelaires' all turned to look at the source of the order. In that moment, they all knew why they were on this ship destined for anywhere. Count Olaf, the man who no matter where they went, no matter what good things happened to them, was there to spoil it. Even if they didn't want to admit it to one another, they knew that Olaf was bThe/b connection to their entire mystery riddled journey. He flowed through all their lives, no matter how much they hated them. They all knew now that if they ever wanted to reach the end of their misfortune, or find the solutions to all their mysteries, it would be through this evil man.

"Where are you taking us Olaf?" Violet asked as the Baudelaires moved to help Olaf lift the great spatula paddles of the ship up onto the deck.

"Are you taking us to your other assistants, the man with no hair and woman with no beard?" Klaus asked. He was speaking of two of Olaf's dastardly compadres, whose names the Baudelaires did not know.

"Fernald and Fiona?" Sunny asked, referring to whether they were headed to Olaf's associate Fernald, and his sister Fiona, of whom Klaus was mildly fond of.

Olaf did not respond for several minutes, but finally turned to the Baudelaires with one of the strangest looks they had ever seen. It looked almost like a melancholy frown, a word which here means 'meek and sad look of depression' , certainly not a look they had seen on Olaf.

"We are not going to meet anyone. I have learned that you cannot truly trust anyone, and so I am heading to the one place I know I can sit and think for while. An island out past the Tedious Tribune, past Briny Beach and past all the shores of the city. It was where I was first taken from, and where my family once lived."

The Baudelaires were unsure of what Olaf meant by 'taken' but they thought it might have to do with the mysterious organization V.F.D., which had become a focal point in their lives for quite some time. Only until just recently had they even learned what the letters stood for; and only at hotel Denouement had they learned they were connected to it.

"Aren't you going to try and take our fortune though?" Klaus said in a defiant voice. Olaf had tried almost every trick in the book to get the Baudelaire fortune, but had not mentioned it since they had been on the ship, which was strange, all things considered.

"No." Olaf said simply. "I wanted that fortune for reasons more than you know Baudelaires. I wanted you to suffer, and still do to tell you the truth, but right now I'm not sure the money is what I really want."

The Baudelaires looked at one another. Olaf didn't want their fortune? Was something wrong? Was he trying to fool them into thinking he was good now? Moreover, why did he want them to suffer? Did something really happen between his parents, and theirs, as he had told them? Were their parents just as bad as him?

Even now, looking back at my time with the Baudelaire parents, I'm not truly sure they were all good, or all bad. But as the Baudelaire's began lifting up the other paddle on the ship, they began to wonder if they would end up like Olaf and maybe their parents, and commit more acts that weren't so noble. They wondered if this strange island they were headed for would lead the to the roots of their ever growing mysteries, or to the truth of the evil that might be running through their family.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The sea is described by some members of our world as 'tedious', by others 'dull', and even by some 'deep' and 'blue'. All of these people are somewhat right, but most likely the best word to describe the sea is, 'the sea'. Something so big, so ambiguous in all senses, cannot be described in one word. The sea we Ican/I say however, is a 'kind devil' which may seem a tad oxymoronish, but is a rather fair generalization. The sea takes as much as it gives us, and no-one ever will truly be able to control it. You may think your controlling the sea when you fish, but you cannot control when a sea causes storm surges or coastal erosion. You may think your controlling the sea by swimming through it's depths without a scratch, but you can't possible prevent the sea from warming in the tropics and assisting the hurricane formation process.

The Baudelaire's also knew you could not control the sea, and they especially knew you could not control how rough it was. After just three or so hours on the ship, Violet began to get increasingly ill, as the ship swayed in the choppy waters. Sunny kept losing her grip on the centre poles of the ship and continuously slid from the bow to the stern. Even Olaf looked tired of how rough the sea was getting for he took it upon himself to yell rather foolish things at it.

"You're a sissy you idiot water! You couldn't knock a buoy over!'

" Your pathetic! I've seen potatoes stronger than you?"

"Who says fire can't beat water in element games? Your useless!"

Despite his incessant insults, the water was not getting any calmer; in fact, it seemed too becoming more aggravated at Olaf's words, knocking the boat harder and harder as time went by.

Klaus peered over at his pale sister and gently guided her over to Sunny. They all sat down on the slightly wet deck and began to whisper to hide their dialogue from Olaf.

"So what do you think Olaf's really planning to do with us?" Klaus asked.

"I don't really know." Violet said groggily, holding her stomach, " But I know that if we don't get somewhere soon, I'm going to be horribly sick. Then I'll be useless to help you both if Olaf tries something on us."

"Overboard?" Sunny suggested rather half heartedly, meaning something along the lines of 'Should we just jump off the ship and swim back to the city?"

"No that would be foolish." Violet said. "You can hardly swim Sunny, and besides even if we did make it back to the city, what would happen to us there? We're wanted for murder, arson, fleeing from the scene of a crime; and we can't really say were innocent to any of the charges can we?"

The other Baudelaires nodded gloomily. However much they didn't want to admit it, they had fled from the authorities numerous times, and Ihad/I, voluntarily, committed arson and inadvertently murder. They couldn't go back and just face the police and society. They were in for the hard yards, a phrase which here means 'Stuck with Olaf until they could find somewhere safe from everyone who could hurt them'.

"So after we go to this island with Olaf, where do we head for then?" Klaus said looking at Violet and Sunny.

"Parents. Snicket File. Mystery." Sunny said which really didn't need translation.

"Sunny's right about this Klaus. We need to find out if one of our parents Iis/I still alive, for they are the only ones who are going to get us out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into. Whether we like it or not, there is no-one new who can help us. People have tried helping us before, but it all ends in tragedy for them or for us. We have to find out the mysteries of our lives ourselves, and the first one is the matter of our still living parent."

"But how do we do that Violet?" Klaus demanded, though he wasn't really mad at his sister.

"We go to this island, and see what information it can give us. Then, if we can we should take the boat and try to find the Quagmires, without Olaf. They alone may help us in some way. They are sure to have some new information in their commonplace books.

"And maybe Fiona and Fernald can help us too. They did steal that submarine from Olaf." Klaus added

"Yes but Kit said they were after the Quagmires, too you know Klaus. Just because Fiona kissed you doesn't mean we owe her anything.

Klaus looked at Violet angrily.

"Well don't pretend your wanting to see the Quagmires just because you think we need their help. You want to see Quigley again, don't you?"

"We all do Klaus! I'm just trying to make a plan of action that seems logical!"

"Well you don't need to insult my plans either!"

"Quit it!"

The two Baudelaires stopped speaking and looked down at Sunny who was standing up and facing them with sad eyes.

"We family, not enemies. We stick together. We work together. We no fight." Sunny said quietly this time.

The Baudelaires looked at their younger sister with equally sad eyes, and thought of how much their baby sister had grown up in such a short time. She was being the smart one, the noble one for once, and she had spoken in such a clear and un-baby like voice. She had truly grown up, and was no longer a baby, but a girl, with a strong will and good culinary skills.

"I'm sorry Sunny. You're absolutely right, we shouldn't be fighting each other. We're all we have, and we need to stay strong to get through this." Klaus smiled at Violet, and all three Baudelaires hugged each other tight, enjoying the moment.

Suddenly the boat slammed to the right, knocking all three hugging Baudelaires over and on too the deck. An enormous wave washed over the ship soaking their already damp concierge uniforms. The Baudelaire's stumbled up in fright, and wandered towards one of the centre poles on the ship. Sunny suddenly pointed to the sky.

"Black sky!" she cried.

The Baudelaires all looked up and saw indeed that the sky was blackening, with clouds almost covering the sun now. They had not noticed it before, but now they could se clearly that sky was beginning to model it's sea counterpart. The sea was so choppy now that the Baudelaires all had to hold on to the centre pole tight, or else they would be flung overboard, or into the rails. Olaf had hit the deck hard, and was sliding across the deck, trying to stand and prevent himself from being hurt any further. The clouds now began to almost shudder, and suddenly a cold front fell upon the children. They desperately tried to huddle next to each other, all shivering. A storm was brewing, and they all knew it.

This storm, which may seem like another dip in the road for the Baudelaires, was in fact a terrible tragedy for another family as well. For, while a storm can roughen the water and shake up seamen, it can cause damage to those in the air as well, and while the Baudelaire's clung for their safety on the ship, a poor man clung weakly to a rope dangling from a large basket in the sky, and although I terribly wish it weren't so, this man was not going to make it through safely.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Before I continue, I would like to weave you a little history about the island the Baudelaires were to visit.

There once, long ago, was an island off in the far distant realms of the sea where no one lived. This island had nothing on it except several fruit trees, and one great apple tree at its centre. This tree was so alarmingly massive, that from miles away, an onlooker could stare out at the island and see the tree and its fruit stretching towards the sun. No-one however, had been to this legendary tree, for whenever they tried, a nasty tributary in the see would always carry them away. Time after time explorers would try to fight the current of the tributary, but all would fail, and end up swept away to the Lachrymose Lake. The explorers of the time of course, had not yet learned of a thing called 'common sense', and always assumed you could only reach the island from its North Side, while the south side had no obvious obstacles.

On one fateful day however, a band women set out to sail around the world in 79 days, came across the Tree and its tedious tributary. They had all heard of the mythical-eske tree, and as they were at least twelve days ahead of schedule, they figured it might be a good place to have a cup of tea. They swerved their boat near the island, and as suspected, began to be pulled by the tributary. The women were ready though, and with the aim and skill of an excellent archer, one of the women named Lottie shot a harpoon into one of the island's orange trees. The women then set out to tie the harpoon's string to the boat, using the strongest knot they knew, the Devil's Tongue knot. The Tributary tried to pull the group of women down its swift waters, but for the first time ever, it had been outsmarted. The women fought against the current with the rope at the head, and reached the shores of the island.

They were instantly mesmerized but the land around them. The soil was rich, the shores white, and the fruit- delicious. Not one of the women could see reason to leave the beautiful island ever.

So these women settled on the island and built wonderfully crude homes with the strong durable twigs and sticks lying around the island, and for many years lived in peace. The women also tended to the great Tree in the centre of their little oasis, and in affection named the tree Beatrice, which was the name of the woman who had funded their trip around the globe, who at that moment was probably cursing herself for spending so much money on a band of flaky ungrateful women. They only ate one apple each of Beatrice's plentiful harvest, and vowed never to violate the riches it gave.

On another fateful day however, several men, who had used their brains for once and took the Southern path to the island, landed on the women's shore, and decided to claim the island for themselves. The women weren't going to have any of this and promptly told the men to leave their paradise. The men however refused, and as the laidies were peaceful, they grudgingly allowed the group of strong men to stay. They did implore their rules on Beatrice however, and the men agreed to only take enough apples to feed them each one a day. For several more years they lived separately, but peacefully.

Now there happens to be a power in the world, one that has caused as many wars as its solved, that began to waft over the Isle of the Tree of Beatrice (which is the only name I have been able to find for the place.). The women of the isle began to fall one by one for their male islemates, as did the men. No one did anything though, until one day a woman named Georgina met a man name Oliver on her way to Beatrice. Both were in their early twenties, and both knew little about the woes of love. They instantly fell for one another, and from then on met each other at Beatrice each day, sharing as many apples as they liked. For a while, no one caught them, but one day they fell asleep under Beatrice, and elders from both the villages of the men and women found the pair with nearly twelve apple cores strewn around them. The elders were shocked and spread the news to their respective people. The tribes marched back to Beatrice and immediately blamed each other for such an over indulgence of the fruit of Beatrice. The lovesick pair tried to console their respective genders, but only a few of their people believed or even cared. The sad truth was that the men and women had become jealous of the other and wanted the fruit of Beatrice to themselves. They fought each other for days, while Georgina, Oliver and the others who wished for peace were just forced to watch. Neither side backed down though, and finally on one final fateful day, one of the sides, it was never clear which, burned the side of Beatrice that belonged to the other. The hidden peaceful watched in horror as their beloved Beatrice went up in hideous red flames. The flames quickly spread to the other side however, and soon the whole tree was a burning inferno.

After the fire had finally been stopped, and the smoke cleared, Beatrice was revealed to the inhabitants. In was nothing but a burnt corpse, an ugly black thing of death, covered for the first time, birds. Murder upon murder of crows had flocked to Beatrice, and highlighted even more the sad excuse for a tree.

The men and women of the island became furious with themselves and their counterparts, and both genders decided to leave the island. The women left in their vast beached ship, and set out to get back at the world for their fallen paradise. They named themselves the Female Finnish Pirates (for they were in fact Finnish), and began to burn the world around them. The same went for the men, though they didn't give themselves such a catchy title. They too began to turn to arson to console their grievance for the loss of Beatrice.

Only Georgina, Oliver and five others; Charles, Louise, Mariotte, Nelson and the ten-year-old Olivia remained on the smoky island. The once white sand was dark from the ash, and fish that once were abundant around the shores all had disappeared. They realized that they would be forced to leave the island, and make a life for themselves somewhere else. As they passed the remains of Beatrice though, Georgina said,

"We cannot just let our friends destroy the peace we once had. We have to stop them, and put out the fires they have started."

Oliver nodded and said,

"We must band together and put out the fires they have started or else the world will end up a vast fiery desert."

Olivia looked up and said quietly,

"We want the world quiet again, like it had been on the island for so long."

All agreed, and with the little wood left from the dead Beatrice, and some of the trees that still stood and had not been caught in the blaze, they built a boat, and called it in remembrance of their lost oasis, Beatrice.

And many years past, with no more incredibly intelligent people managing to land on the island. Finally however, after the feud had long sensed been erased from each of their minds, and only the never ending want for arson remaining, the two arsonist groups returned to the island, and united under one common goal, to fight fire with fire. The island they had learned of from their elders had changed however. In the centre, where there had been said to be the smoldering mass of a tree, stood another tremendous one, that produced bright red apples too. The women and men rushed the tree and greedily devoured the apples. Something was different though. The apples were no longer sweet, but devilishly smoky and bitter. They all spat the fruit out, and through their apple to the ground. The tree was no longer pure, but a thing of both good and bad, a tree that the people aptly named, A Tree of Morale Uncertainty. The people of fire then in turn turned the island into a city for which they could base their deeds upon, and in turn turned the island into a thing of morale uncertainty as well.


End file.
